Where Will Our High Rise Future be Built?

Everyone knows that cities are going to keep going up (rather than out) but, despite that, many cities resist going vertical.


In this excellent article about the challenge called Does Manhattan have a future as a great metropolis?, Nicolai Ouroussoff suggest that "our messy process of democratic development hinders the new tilt toward enlightened urbanism".  He highlights the proposition contrasting the examples of New York, where new mega towers are being height limited to preserve the iconic skyline, as opposed to Shanghai, where there appear to be no vertical limits to buildings and where a completely new (and unique) skyline is being created.


So, it appears that progress towards high rise urbanism is moving from the West to the East and Middle East.  For instance, The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat reports that most super tall commercial towers will be in China, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Russia by 2020. 

It's a shame the west is losing ground here due to nimbyism and I'm sure that this debate will continue forever.   But it's important to realise that progress is always challenging and upsets the existing order but that it will always happen somewhere.


Francesco ...